


The Faceless Man

by Hypothetical_Lad



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alien Abduction, Other, Science Fiction, Shapeshifting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:01:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26044648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hypothetical_Lad/pseuds/Hypothetical_Lad
Summary: This is an original story idea that I'll try to post as regularly as I can. It's about a man's quest to get back home after he is kidnapped by an alien.
Kudos: 5





	1. Not your average drunk night out

"Just one more drink, I swear it's the last one!" the man shouted, knocking into a table as he stumbled around. He tripped and almost fell, knocking over plates and glasses as he steadied himself.   
"Ross, you know full well you've had enough to drink," the bartender said, gently taking the man's arm and directing him to the exit.   
"Just one more, I-"  
"Ross, you can't keep doing this to yourself," The bartender turned Ross around so they were face to face, "I know you've given up on yourself, but what about your friends and family! They care about you! No one wants to see you like this!"  
"What friends? What family?" Ross moaned as he slumped forwards slightly, "they don't want me anymore, no one wants me anymore!"  
"We want you, Ross." He paused a bit before adding, "Just not here, every night of the week, is all."  
"I just want one more, I'll be out of your hair if you-"  
"Go home and rest Ross. Please." Phillip attempted to get his friend to look into his eyes, "And if you can, try to have a think about what I've said."   
Failing this he sighed and muttered, "If you remember anything I'm telling you that is."  
The bartender led him outside, carefully manoeuvring Ross to avoid him hitting the doorframe.  
"If you know what's good for you, please don't come back here tomorrow, okay mate?" After receiving no response, he turned and went back inside, calling back to Ross, "Just wait here and I'll call you a cab okay?"  
The bartender closed the doors, and Ross heard the door's lock slide into place. He collapsed onto the concrete and lay there, swearing profusely for a few minutes.  
Eventually he shakily got to his feet, and then he turned to pound his fists against the door a few times, the old, wooden panels trembling with each hit.  
"Goddammit," he muttered, "God-"   
Before he could end his statement, a man stepped out from nowhere and pushed past Ross, sending him flying onto the cold pavement, twisting as he fell.   
"Hey!" he shouted, as he stumbled up awkwardly to his feet. He tried to catch a glimpse of the man and only just saw him disappear down a small side alley.   
"Stupid idiot," Ross growled as he checked himself for bruises. His hands slid over his pockets, which he realised were now empty of his phone and wallet.  
"That bastard stole my stuff!" he cried, not thinking to check in the pub, where he'd actually left it.   
He turned and ran after the man, almost colliding with the alley's corner as he turned sharply.  
"Where'd he disappear to?" He muttered to himself before he saw a leg disappear over the brick wall at the end of the dark alley.   
Without thinking he ran towards the wall and leapt up, trying desperately to pull himself over. His knees buckled as his feet hit the wall, both hands scrabbling for something to cling to. Teetering and falling forwards, Ross felt the air leave his lungs as his stomach collided with the top of the wall. With a pained groan he pulled himself up, eventually toppling over and onto the rough concrete on the other side.   
As he took in the scene before him, he contemplated for a second on how much exactly he'd drunk that night.   
The man from before was now crouched down, fifty metres away, next to a massive, rectangular object that was suspended off the ground by five, jet black legs. The shape was made out of a dark green, translucent substance that reflected the overcast, night sky. Short, dark pipes stuck out in a neat row along its sides, with two rows of strange, spherical objects both above and below them. Almost opaque, mustard coloured steam erupted from its underside, and an unusual, weirdly-sweet smell hung in the air.   
"You can't hide in there you idiot!" Ross slurred, taking a few nervous steps towards the man, who had his top half submerged in a large, square opening on the side of the mysterious object.   
Ross continued forward, and when he got about three metres away from the man, he saw him flinch. It was then that he stopped to take in the man's strange attire; he wore a pair of red-and-brown tartan jeans and had a large, sticker covered briefcase sitting next to him.   
His feet, or more lack of feet, were the most curious and unsettling feature of all. A pair of pointed, bleached looking stumps stuck out from his pant legs, a row of ridges running down their backs.   
"Oi mate!" Ross said, his bravery waning, "Just give me back my stuff and I'll clear off!"  
When he got no response, he stepped forwards again, reaching out to tap the man's back.   
Before he could however, there was a sudden blur of colours, and he was knocked backwards, his head smacking into the hard concrete.   
A brief pain surged through his head, before his vision plunged into darkness and his body went limp.


	2. A transformation of sorts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ross wakes up in a spaceship and meets a jerk ass alien.

When Ross finally started to regain consciousness, he was surprised to find that he wasn't lying on the side of some road, throwing up. Even weirder still, he lacked the normal hangover he experienced most mornings.   
"I could've sworn I went drinking last night," he thought, "I definitely did, I remember Phil locking me out and everything.  
Wait, where am I? Did the cab driver drag me inside when he dropped me off? Did I somehow manage to get home by myself? And why don't I have a hangover?"  
He then noticed the unnerving humming and shaking that his couch was making.   
"What the hell," he thought as he tried to get up. His muscles tensed slightly, but they didn't move as much as he was desperately trying to do so. "What the fuck," he tried to say, "why can't I get up?" He couldn't even get his lips to move.   
"What the hell, am I dead or something! Why the hell can't I move!"  
He tried to open his eyes and to his relief, they blinked open. When he tried to turn his head to see what or who was holding him down, however, he found that moving his head was impossible too.   
"Wait," he thought anxiously, "is this that sleep paralysis thing or whatever it's called?   
No, that doesn't make sense," he concluded, "I'm not even in my room, let alone outside the pub! In fact, where am I?"  
His eyes focused as he looked up at the large, blinking panels sticking out of the ceiling above him. Whatever he was lying on seemed to be pulsing slowly, and he noticed the strange, green material the panels jutted out from.   
"I could've sworn I'd seen this material before," he thought as he looked up at the ceiling's dark, translucent surface.   
Then the events of last night came back to him.  
"Where am I!?" his mind screamed, panic filling his body. "What did that person do to me!? Am I in that weird box thing of his? Why can't I move!"  
He heard a door side open behind him, and once again he tried to turn and get up.  
Weird, squelching footsteps echoed around him as whatever they came from moved quickly towards him.   
"Maybe I just passed out and, and he's a doctor or, or-"  
The man loomed over him, and if Ross had control of his body, he would have screamed.   
The man's face was the same, pure white as his legs, which he realised now were probably real. It lacked any features whatsoever, not even indents where the eyes should have been, no cheekbones or anything.   
Ross quickly shut his eyes, praying that this was a dream or some absurd hallucination. When he opened them however, he nearly had a heart attack. Parts of the man's skin were changing shape, holes opening in his face on his chin and forehead, exposing shallow tunnels of morphing flesh. An eye bulged and squirmed it's way out of the tunnel on his chin, surfaced on his chin with fine eyelashes forming almost instantaneously.   
Slits opened where a nose and ears would normally be present on an ordinary human, and sharp teeth slid out and rimmed the inside of the hole on his forehead, the corners of the opening pinching into lips to complete what now was evidently a horrifyingly positioned mouth.   
Ross closed his eyes again, tighter this time, wishing that this was just a surreal, alcohol-induced hallucination.   
He opened his eyes cautiously, and to his relief he saw that he was alone again.   
"Still can't move though," he thought as he tried to get up.   
"You're still awake then are you?" A hissing voice snapped, and the thing loomed back over him, a slightly annoyed expression on it's mismatched face, "I thought you'd passed out again!"  
Ross closed his eyes again.   
"You can't fool me twice young man, I know you're just pretending!" the creature exclaimed in an almost mocking tone.  
"Who is this freak," Ross thought, "And why is he telling me off?"  
"Well, are you going to say something?" The thing asked, flicking Ross' forehead, "surely you want to question me about your surroundings, or something of a similar calibre?"  
There were a few seconds of silence before the creature remembered the force keeping Ross from moving.   
"Oh sorry, no no no okay! I completely- The movement thing and- Okay, I'll be right back!"  
He rushed off awkwardly, muttering to himself as he went. A second layer he returned carrying a glowing blue sphere in his weird, crab-claw-like hand.   
"Here we go!" he said, pressing the sphere's side with a tentacle that protruded out from between the claws, "You should be able to talk now!"  
Ross let out a terrified scream, his voice bouncing off the walls. The creature pressed at the sphere again, ceasing his cries immediately.  
"Before I press this again," the thing said, leaning in close to Ross' face, "I just want to let you know that we have left the Earth's atmosphere, and that nobody can hear your annoying screams except for me, who can, at any time, cast you into the void of space." He paused for a moment, his cold eye glaring down and into Ross'. "You may continue," He snapped, tapping the sphere once more.  
Ross looked at the thing cautiously, it's smug smile sending shivers down his spine.   
"Who-who-No, not who, w-what are you?" He stammered, beads of sweat forming on his face.   
"I am a member of the Sefflu species," the creature said with a mix of birth pride and bitterness, "one of the few races in the universe that can shape-shift at will."  
"Does that mean there are more shape-shifters that can't control their powers, or that there aren't many shape-shifters in general?"  
"What?" The creature seemed taken aback, "oh, no, there are less 'random morphers' out there than there are controlled ones."  
"Good to know, good to know," Ross said absentmindedly as he thought of his next question.   
"Where are we in space?"  
"We're on the edge of your solar system, just a few million kilometres from its end."  
"Do you have a name, or a shortened name if it's too complicated or requires, like, five tongues to pronounce?"  
"It's Caridion."  
"Oh." Ross paused. "Caridion. That-that's it? No-"  
"It's just Caridion," he snapped.  
There were a few moments of silence before Ross began to speak again.   
"What are you going to do with me?"  
"I thought you'd never ask." A cruel smile spread across his face, and his teeth glinted menacingly under the luminescent lights.   
"You're not going to eat me are you?" Ross said, a look of disgust appearing across his face.  
"What?" Caridion scowled, "no. Ew! No! Why would- No!"  
"Are you going to dissect me? Experiment on me!?" Ross' mind panicked with all the horrifying possibilities, "take me to a weird alien zoo?! Feed me to something else!?"  
"If you shut up for a second I'd tell you!" Caridion snapped, several muscles on his face bulging where they wouldn't on a human.   
Ross immediately closed his mouth, and he looked at Caridion nervously.   
"Thank you." Caridion said coldly, his face relaxing again, "if you must know, I'm taking you to The Planet of Criminals."  
"That sounds cheerful," Ross muttered under his breath, "And why are you taking me there?"  
"So I can dispose of you on neutral grounds," Caridion explained, "The Planet of Criminals is one of the few planets not listed on maps, has no acting government, and no rules or regulations. You can get away with anything there."  
"Sounds like a fine place to go then," Ross said grumpily, "my first visit to outer space and I'm going to a planet of murderers and thieves!"  
"Not much different from any other planet," Caridion said matter-of-factly, "except that people can get away with it where we're headed!"  
"That's no consolation. Anyway, what are you going to do with me there? Just plain kill me or let someone else do it for you?"  
"I'm pawning you off to the highest bidder!" Caridion replied happily, "A specimen like you should sell well on the black market!"  
"You're just going to sell me!"  
"Yes."  
"With no concern for what's done to me!?"  
"Your people did that too you know! Did slave-traders care about what happened to all of those innocent people?"  
Ross sighed. "I suppose not," he muttered. "I just thought- no, never mind."  
"What?"  
"I just thought that if aliens ever came to Earth," Ross sighed, "that they might treat us better then we do ourselves."  
"Well, life's tough, and the universe is worse," Caridion said, his shoulders slumping just a little.   
"Why'd you even have to take me anyway?" Ross asked, closing his eyes for a second.   
Caridion stuttered a little. "You know, the normal reasons! I didn't want you spreading word of an alien in the neighbourhood and stuff like that."  
"I wouldn't have worried too much."  
"You would've told someone!" Caridion laughed.  
"No one's going to believe an alcoholic saw an alien," Ross said, "Especially if they were drunk at the time."  
Caridion considered this for a moment.  
"Well, uh, your story could've been heard by-" Carifion flustered, turning away from Ross for a second.   
"I wouldn't have told anyone!" Ross interrupted, "They wouldn't have listened! If a drunkard came up to me and told me he'd seen aliens, I wouldn't have listened!"  
There was a loud thump and the spaceship shuddered, almost knocking Caridion off his feet. "What the heck was that?"  
Caridion turned back to Ross.   
"Surely- No! No. I- I need to go," he said suspiciously as he walked back out through the door, hesitating for a second before leaving, "don't go anywhere."  
Ross tried to open his mouth to say something, but then he realised he couldn't speak again. The door slid shut behind Caridion.   
Ross lay there for a few minutes, thinking about what horrible fate lay ahead of him. Eventually he passed off to sleep, waking only when the spaceship came to a stop.


	3. A grand old tussle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tussle in space.

Ross felt a gentle hand nudge his arm, and for a second he thought he was back at home, happy and safe from any intergalactic perils.   
"If I'm back home though," he thought, "Who's waking me up? Surely not Prim, she left months ago."  
Then he opened his eyes, and saw Caridion standing over him, his single eye ever-so-slightly red around its edges.  
"We're nearly there," He said, "You'd better get up now."  
"That's a good idea," Ross snapped, "I'll just hop up shall I!" He tried to jump out of bed, and to his surprise he succeeded, landing squarely on his feet before immediately collapsing.   
"I turned the transmitters off," Caridion said simply before going back through the door, "now follow me, and please, don't touch anything."  
Ross shakily got to his feet, his legs trembling as he walked into the next room.   
Once in there, Ross was almost blinded by the amount of bright, flashing lights covering the walls, floors and ceilings.   
"What is this place?" Ross exclaimed, shielding his eyes.   
"This," said Caridion, "is the map room!" He inserted his claws into two slots in the wall, and all about him the lights began to move to one side of the room. They all turned white, and formed into numerous constellations that Ross didn't recognise.   
"We are here," Caridion said, pulling his claws out from the wall, "In the Skrenan Galaxy." He pointed to a small dot that was making its way slowly towards a blank area surrounded by stars. "That's our spaceship," he said, "and this is our location," he said and moved his claw to the blank spot.   
"I can't see this planet of yours," Ross said with feigned interest.   
"Of course you can't!" Caridion chuckled, "even if we were 3 helkons away from it, it wouldn't show up on the map! No, that," he said circling the space with his claw, "Is a wormhole."  
"Gotcha."  
"Once we're through there, we enter a hive of villainy and scum."  
"You'll fit right in then."  
Caridion glowered at Ross for a moment before he continued.   
"Once we're in the wormhole, we'll have to be really careful not to go off course."  
"What would happen if we did?" Ross asked, even though he knew he wouldn't like the answer.   
"This wormhole connects to every habitable system in this galaxy. If we went off course we'd be sent to a different system or worse, become lost in the wormhole."  
"That's a relief," Ross shrugged, "I thought we'd be like, torn to pieces by space or something."  
"A quick death like that would be preferable to spending millenia trapped in there," Caridion said as he pointed at the wormhole.  
"What do you mean?" Ross asked, "I'd be dead in like, seventy years or something wouldn't I?"  
Caridion sighed, his expression weary.   
"Ok. To put things simply," he said, "the ship we're standing in is like a giant stasis pod. As long as we're in here, we won't age, and millions of microbots heal any wounds we get. Oh, and they supply the nutrients we need to survive too."  
He pulled a transparent blue sphere out of his pocket.   
"What's that?" Ross asked.   
"It's- Well it's-" Caridion's eyes lit up. "It's like a 'smartphone' only more advanced.   
Ross rolled his eyes. Caridion ignored this and fumbled with the sphere for a second, until it began emitting a loud buzzing noise. Small, yellow lights flicked on all over it and began to slowly circle around the sphere.   
"Among other things, with this I can alter time around us, allowing us quick progression through space."  
To demonstrate he moved one light around and around the sphere, the light on the map indicating their spaceship slowly speeding up.  
"With this, years flash by in minutes!"  
Ross turned to Caridion at this remark.   
"Wait. How much time has passed since we left Earth then?"  
Caridion looked up from the sphere but couldn't meet Ross' gaze.  
"I don't see why that matters," Caridion said as he tried to leave the room, "Now just wait in here, I really must-"  
"How long!?" Ross yelled, his hands curling into fists. "Only 43 sinkrons or so! nothing more! I really must get to-"   
"And how long is that in Earth years?" Ross spat, grabbing onto Caridion's arm to stop him leaving.   
Caridion hesitated, but knew that there was no avoiding this.  
"One hundred."   
Caridion began scrambling with orb, but paused when Ross made no sign to lunge at him.  
Seconds passed and they both stood there in silence.  
Caridion looked up at Ross and gulped as he saw a single tear slide down his face.   
And then Ross snapped.  
He grabbed Caridion by the collar and threw him into one of the glowing walls.   
"One hundred years," he deadpanned.  
He swung his arm, putting as much force as he could behind the fist that connected with Caridion's jaw.   
Caridion flew backwards trying to catch himself to prevent further damage. He felt resistance around his neck and his fall was halted.  
Ross' other hand gripped the back of Caridion's cape, and he was pulled roughly upright again.  
"Everyone I know is dead!" Ross yelled, punching Caridion hard in the gut.   
"And if they aren't," he growled, "I'd never make it back in time to see them alive!"  
His grip on Caridion's cape failed, and Caridion collapsed to the ground, a trickle of black saliva sliding down his forehead.   
"Please." Caridion coughed, "Please stop! I- I didn't-"  
"My whole family." Ross fell to his knees, "What little friends I had. They're- They're all-" He fell onto his down next to Caridion, tears now streaming down his face.   
"They're all dead!"  
"I'm sorry." Caridion coughed as he struggled to his feet, "I had no choice."  
"I already told you," Ross said, "No one would have believed me, fucking noone!"  
"I know," Caridion said, "I know. Please, let me explain."  
Ross turned his head and looked up at Caridion.   
Both his nostrils were closing up, and his bruises were slowly fading from his face.   
"When I first came to Earth, I was on the run and I-"   
A loud ringing sound blared suddenly, an otherworldly tune that echoed around the room.   
"Crap."   
Caridion leapt to his feet and pulled the blue sphere from his pocket. The lights inside it had gone a dark red and they span around the orb in an erratic fashion.   
After a second of fiddling with it, the alarm stopped and once again, the lights glowed yellow.   
A door to Caridion's left slid open and he ran through it.   
"Hey!" Ross gasped, out of breath. "I'm not fucking done!"  
There was no response.   
Ross sighed and struggled to his feet, then stumbled through the opening after Caridion.   
Ross gasped as he felt the floor disappear from under him. His momentum carried him forwards and he spun wildly through the air.  
Or more, an absence of air.   
He looked around in terror at the stars that were now mapped out around him, some so close he had to shield his eyes. Asteroids and dust whipped past him, missing him by mere metres.   
He had now undoubtedly stepped out into the cold void of space.


	4. A deadly pursuit through a black hole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chase scene but like... in space

A large asteroid spun towards him, and he threw his arms up in self defense. Through the gaps between them he saw the asteroid burn up about a metre before it would have hit him.   
He turned his head to look back at where the other room had been, but the door had vanished, more stars in its place.   
He curled into a ball and begun to hyperventilate. It was then when he discovered he could still breathe. Caridion's called out from above him, but when he turned in the direction of his voice, he was nowhere to be seen.   
"Don't panic! Just follow my voice!"   
Ross took a few deep breaths, then swam forwards through the air, suddenly colliding with something hard and cold.   
"Good, you made it. Strap yourself in."  
A metal throne suddenly materialized before him, and he carefully climbed around it to sit on the weird, cushioned metal that coated the floating seat.   
Ross looked to his right and saw Caridion materialize next to him, sitting in a similar seat. The sphere was still in his hands, and a glowing blue band encircled his head.   
"What is this place," Ross breathed, looking around in new-found awe.  
"I call this the viewing station. I can do all the steering I need with these," Caridion said gesturing to the crown and sphere, "but it's no use if I can't see what I'm doing."  
"How did you-," Ross was at a loss for words. Everything seemed so mind-blowing, so strange and alien.   
"Virtual reality. Before you even stepped through that door, your eyes were fitted with technology that enables you to see through the cameras on the sides of my ship. That asteroid you saw before was vaporized by my ship's force field."  
"How did you know-"  
"We're seeing through the same cameras remember," Caridion interrupted, "Now if you don't mind, I need a second to concentrate."  
"What's wrong?" Ross asked.  
"You didn't see it when you came in?"  
"No? See what?"  
Caridion pointed ahead, and when Ross looked up his heart skipped a beat.   
In front of them, there stretched an enormous black hole. Huge clouds of gas and dust swirled through the void, twisting and spiraling as they then disappeared into the cold, empty gap in the middle. Even though it was in the distance, Ross was immediately thrown into panic again. He gripped the arms of his chair tightly and looked at Caridion with a terrified expression.   
"There it is," Caridion said, "We're nearly at the wormhole."  
The look on Ross' face shifted from one of horror to one of disbelief.   
"We're going to fly into that thing!?" he cried.   
Caridion rolled his eye.  
"How else will we get to The Planet of Criminals?"  
"But that's a black hole!"  
"So?" Caridion looked over at Ross, who had curled into the fetal position.   
"What are you doing? Strap yourself in you fool!"  
"I'm going to die." Ross rocked backwards and forwards and tucked his head between his knees.   
"Oh don't panic, it's not going to kill you! Did you really think I'd bring you all this way to have you turn into human spaghetti?"  
"But it's a-"  
"We've been through at least 35 black holes since we left Earth! You've got nothing to worry about!"  
Ross slowly unfolded himself and strapped himself in.   
"The worst that could happen is if we hit a wreck in there and our engines got damaged."  
"Wrecks?" The temporary feeling of relief disappeared as quickly as it had started.  
"Don't fret, their inhabitants are long gone by now. Crashed crafts from centuries ago, preserved for eternity."  
"What happens if we crash?" Ross asked nervously.  
"I'll either fix the damage or we'll be stuck until someone else hits us. And if no one does, we'll be trapped here, and I already gave you my spiel about being cast adrift in space."  
Ross began to hyperventilate again.   
"You've nothing to fear though!" Caridion exclaimed, "I'm a fantastic flyer. Self taught too no less!"  
Ross looked angrily at Caridion, "You're not helping you know!"  
Caridion opened his mouth to speak but his sphere interrupted him as it blared a high pitched wail. He tapped at its surface and it stopped instantly.  
"Okay, hold on tight now!" He exclaimed as he tapped at one of the sphere's lights. It briefly flashed red and a loud humming filled the air.   
"What are you-"  
Ross was thrown back in his chair so hard that he thought he would surely be fused to it. He tried to move his arms, and for the second time that day, he found that he couldn't. His eyes streamed with tears, and his bones felt as though they'd shatter at any moment.   
The ship then suddenly stopped and he was flung forwards. His seat belt pulled tight against his chest, anchoring him in place.   
An excruciating pain whipped across his chest, but it faded away in a matter of seconds.   
He turned to look at Caridion, who seemed untroubled by their rapid increase of speed.   
"Sorry about that," Caridion said, "Just testing the new engines."  
"I'm surprised that the seat belt didn't break my ribs!" Ross gasped.   
"They probably did," Caridion said, "Don't forget about those nifty nanobots!"  
"Nanobots aside, I'd prefer my ribs remaining intact at all times thanks!" Ross snapped.  
And then he noticed their surroundings. The wormhole and stars around it had all vanished, and the view had shifted from awe-inspiring to surreal and unsettling. They were now flying, quite slowly, down a large, dark tunnel. Caridion tapped the side of his crown and two beams of light lit up the walls around them. They were made of black, glistening strands of some kind, woven together and constantly shifting. Every now and then parts of the wall would explode outwards, the strands unraveling, and then tightening over and over again, like a broken cassette tape.   
Ross was mesmerised by the shifting walls, and it took Caridion several attempts to get his attention.   
"Ross!" Caridion said for the fifth time as he searched his pockets for things to throw at his absent companion.   
"What?" Ross asked sleepily.   
"Getting through here is going to require my full attention. If you've got any serious concerns, feel free to tell me at any time, but we'll have to limit conversation from this point on."  
"That's fine," Ross said, "These walls could keep me entertained for hours!"  
With that he turned back to the walls and studied them intently. Whenever parts of the wall unraveled, he could see distorted beams of light flash by and disappear as the cords rearranged themselves.   
Every now and then Caridion would make a sharp turn and Ross' seat belt would strain to keep him in his chair.   
Two blindingly bright lights appeared suddenly before them, and Ross shielded his eyes.   
"What the hell!" Caridion said as he brought their ship to an abrupt halt.   
It was only when Caridion dimmed their headlights that Ross could make out what lay before them.   
A huge spaceship blocked their path. It was made entirely of extremely reflective metal, so reflective that it was hard to make out where it stopped and the wormhole walls began. Caridion sat there for a second, and realised that the lights were merely his own ship's reflected headlights.  
Ross looked over at Caridion, who had begun hurriedly fiddling with the sphere. A small cylinder poked out its side and Caridion spoke into it nervously:  
"This is Caridion Xantgar of the Cryleous system. If you can hear this, please respond at once."  
Five minutes of silence passed. The ship hadn't moved, or if it had, they didn't notice it.   
"I repeat, my name is-"   
"Look!" Ross said, pointing at the bottom edge of the ship.   
It took Caridion a few seconds to spot it, but when he did he swiped at the surface of the sphere and their vision zoomed in on the object.   
"Woah god, what?" Ross said as he rubbed his eyes.   
Caridion fiddled some more with the sphere, causing Ross' vision to move about uncontrollably.   
"Hey stop that!" Ross said, "You're gonna make me sick!"  
"Sorry," Caridion chuckled.  
He zoomed in on the object once more and it took them a second to realise what it was.  
"Is that a boot?" Ross asked nervously.   
"I- I think it might be," Caridion said as he cautiously steered them under the enormous craft.   
The object was indeed a boot, and as more and more of it was revealed, it became evident that there was something still wearing it.   
The creature was tiny and vaguely humanoid looking, and it wore the bottom half of a tan and beige spacesuit. The top half of its body was uncovered and swollen looking, with large, acid green veins stretching all over its skin. Long, black knotted hair hung in front of its face, but a metallic visor could be seen covering half the creature's face. The half that wasn't was largely dominated by a mouth that hung open in a silent scream, revealing rows of small pointed teeth speckled with light green blood. A rectangular machine was seemingly fused to its back and instead of arms it had two large robotic appendages sticking out of its sides.   
"What the hell happened here," Caridion said as they looked up at what remained of the ship. This was the second spacecraft Ross had seen, but he could tell that something had gone horribly wrong.   
The ship was not actually cylindrical as he first thought, but more resembled a stereotypical flying saucer. The only real difference was that sharp, sawblade-like points lined its rim. What was left of the side that faced them now however was not silver and reflective like the other side, but jet black with red metallic edges.   
Three large, irregular holes exposed the insides of the ship, and although they couldn't see much inside from this distance, they could make out more and more lifeless bodies drifting about.   
"It's just a wreck isn't it?" Ross said, watching the countless swollen corpses float by.   
"No," Caridion said firmly, "This ship was attacked, and recently."  
"How can you tell?"  
"The edges of those holes are still glowing slightly."  
Ross looked, and sure enough, they glowed a faint red, like the dying embers of a fire.   
"I wouldn't have imagined it possible though." Caridion said as he slowly reversed away from the ship, "That's a Kyorian ship, and they're one of the strongest military races in the galaxy!"  
"Are you sure they were attacked? Their weapons could've malfunctioned and exploded couldn't they?"  
"That could be the case, but it still asks the question as to why they were desperately trying to get in their space suits."  
He zoomed in on the very first creature they saw.   
"If their weapons had malfunctioned, they wouldn't have had time to react. They'd be dead in less than seconds. And that's another thing, why is the ship sideways like that? If it had been attacked, it shouldn't be blocking our path like that."  
"I'm going to assume it works a bit like a Frisbee then."   
Caridion turned to Ross with a confused look on his face. Something twigged in his mind and he realised what he meant.   
"Yes, I suppose it does work like that, just with a lot less spinning."  
"Gotcha. Couldn't it have been knocked over by whatever weapon hit it?"  
Caridion shook his head.  
"No. It would still be flipping around if that were the case, plus it's too close to the bodies. Whatever attacked it must have moved it before it left."  
"But why would they do that?"  
Caridion's eyes widened and he spun his chair around quickly.   
"I think it's a trap. We have to get out of here right now!"  
They reversed faster now, and as they disappeared around a corner in the tunnel, Ross saw something burst out from amongst the rubble.   
"Hey Caridion, I think something's following us!"  
Caridion's eyes widened and they gained speed.   
"What does it look like?"  
The thing appeared from around the corner and Ross got a better look at it before it disappeared again.   
"It's black and it has tentacles. It had little red eyes and-"  
"Don't worry, I saw it that time," Caridion said as he swerved around another corner.   
The tunnel split ahead of them and Caridion swerved to the right.   
"Do you know what it was?" Ross asked as he saw it come around the corner.   
The tunnel they turned onto was straighter than the others, so Ross managed to get a better view of the creature.   
Despite being able to see the creature in its entirety, Ross still wasn't quite sure what he was looking at. The thing looked as though it was made out of intertwined tentacles, and he couldn't see any one place where any of them were connected. Small red eyes peeked out between the layers of tentacles, and he could see either spines or teeth clashing together while it moved. Ross realised it wasn't actually black like he first though, but more of a dark, purplish grey. Nowhere on it could he see anything that would propel itself forward, yet it was moving quickly towards them, almost matching their speed.   
"I do indeed," Caridion said, "Though I never thought I'd be chased by one through a wormhole."  
They came to more forks in the tunnel and Caridion swerved left this time, narrowly avoiding a number of smaller wrecks that had been clumped together somehow.   
"Shit shit shit!" Caridion said as a smaller wreck scraped along the ship’s side.   
Ross watched as the creature tore through the wreck they just passed. As he looked closer however, he saw that the creature wasn't actually touching the ships it passed through. The wrecks just tore themselves apart around it.   
“Did that… thing cause the wreck we ran into back there?”  
“No, definitely not. That thing is a Varceil, and they’re a peaceful species. Usually peaceful at least.”  
“Well, if it has peaceful intentions, it sure isn’t doing a good job of conveying it.”  
Caridion’s brow furrowed.   
“No kidding. They normally only go after wrecked ships, the only reason I could see one attacking us is if someone hacked into it somehow.”  
“Hacked into…” Ross turned to give Caridion a puzzled look. “You said species a second ago, but now you’re speaking about it like it's a machine or something.”  
“Well technically it isn’t either its… God, how do I put this in human terms? I guess it could be considered a genetically engineered creature, but no, that’s not quite right… Aha! Do you know what biotech, no, organic technology is?”  
Ross chuckled, “I’ve certainly watched enough sci fi movies to know what those are! If I wasn’t so terrified, I’d be ecstatic right now!”  
“Okay, I’ll keep this brief. The Varceil were created by… well that's a debated topic really, multiple competitive businesses and what not, but anyways… They were created to help keep the wormhole highways clear. When they are functioning properly, they emit a field that… well… okay, a field that can manipulate whatever is around them.”  
“And that’s how it’s been tearing through those wrecks so easily! I think I kind of get it?”  
Caridion smiled.   
“I don’t fully understand them myself, but I know not to fly too close to them when they’re at work. They essentially break wrecks down into smaller, less obtrusive pieces, and then manufacturing companies send out ships to collect and recycle those pieces.”  
“Sounds like a well oiled machine,” Ross said as he looked back at the horrifying mass of fleshy wires, “So what do you do if you're being chased by a hostile one?”  
“I wish I had the answer to that,” Caridion sighed as they rounded another tight corner, “I guess keep going to try to lose it?”  
“Sounds as good a plan as any. It’s a shame it’s gaining on us though.”  
“Okay, enough with the pessimistic remarks, I need quiet now,” Caridion rubbed his face and then split the sphere in half.   
With that the ship suddenly reversed back towards the creature, and spun so that it was flying vertically. Ross saw the creature fly by just a few metres from them, clearly struggling against the momentum that now propelled it in the wrong direction.   
“How much distance did that gain us?” Caridion yelled as he spun the ships so it was horizontal again.  
Ross watched the creature, now barely visible in the distance, as it finally managed to turn itself around.  
“Heh, I’d say we can easily lose it now!”  
They passed through another group of wrecked ships, and the creature disappeared from sight.   
“God that was tense!”  
“You’re telling me!” Caridion laughed, “You weren’t the one working his ass off to escape that thing!”  
“Yeah…” Ross trailed off as he remembered the crashed Kyronian ship.  
“Hey Caridion,” he said nervously, “If the Varceil didn’t cause that crash, then what did?”   
Caridion’s laughter stopped immediately.   
“I… I don’t know, this is meant to be a safe zone, and besides, you’d be hard pressed to find a species that could take on the Kyronians, unless they were distracted somehow…”  
“Caridion, I- I think we’re about to find out!”  
“What the hell do you mean!?”  
“I just saw one of those ships back there move.”  
“Which one? Where?”  
“I- I don’t know!” Ross cried as he scanned the surrounding wreckage, “I can’t see it anymore!”  
“Well what did it look like?”  
Ross faltered.  
“I couldn’t make out much, but I think it was vaguely claw shaped?”  
The muscles on Caridion’s face twitched.   
“I- You’re sure it was claw shaped?”  
“I think so? And there was a sphere between the claws I think.”  
“We need to get out of here as soon as possible.”  
“Why, what ship is that?”  
Cardion’s chair hovered forwards, so that Ross could no longer see his face.  
“I need to concentrate. We’ll be at the Planet of Criminals soon.”  
“Okay, I guess I’ll just… sit here.”  
Ross went back to gazing at the walls, and an uncomfortable silence hung in the air for the rest of the journey.

**Author's Note:**

> Any feedback is welcome.


End file.
